NEWRY — Frank A. Lowell Sr., 89, of Newry, passed away peacefully Feb. 9 at his home, after a long battle with cancer.

He was born in Buckfield Dec. 30, 1922, the son of John E. and Ruth Ellingwood Lowell. He attended school in Buckfield, dropping out his sophomore year to work on a farm. With the money he earned, he purchased a farm on North Hill in Buckfield for his parents.

He worked at the shipyard in Bath before joining the Navy in 1943, serving during World War II in the Pacific on the USS Tazewell APA209, a troop carrier. He worked at the shipyard in San Francisco and helped in building that ship. He was discharged in January 1946.

On Feb. 5, 1947, he married Beatrice Forbes. They made their home in Bethel, raising four children. After the war, he started working in the carpentry business, building many homes in the Bethel area, as well as the Berlin and Gorham, N.H., areas.

In 1953, Frank, along with Stan Davis and Stan Brown, built a sawmill in Juneau, Alaska. He always vowed to go back to Alaska someday.

He built apple cold-storage buildings in Buckfield, Limerick, Alfred, Bridgton and Cornish, along with a blueberry cold-storage building in Ellsworth. In 1958, he built a camp in C surplus with his two friends, Red Blake and Avery Angevine. In 1964, he started Western Maine Supply in Bethel, retailing building materials.

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In 1971, he built a new home on the Branch Road in Newry, enjoying 40 years there fishing in his pond and shooting over 120 coyotes out his garage window. In 1975, he started Puzzell Mountain Farm, raising black angus beef cows, building his herd to over 150 head. He showed many cows at the fairs in Maine.

In 1985, he and Bea bought a camping trailer and spent the summer in Alaska; while there they traveled extensively from Homer to Prudhoe Bay. He did not go to Alaska in 1986, but he went every year after until 2008. They owned a home in Sterling, Alaska, for 13 years. He went caribou hunting for 12 years in a row, shooting 37 caribou near the Mulchatna River. He loved fishing the Russian River, along with the Kenai River. If he was not fishing or hunting in Alaska, he was in his garden.

He was very proud to have lived to 89 years, outliving his parents; one brother; and three sisters. Last fall he was very pleased to have been visited by his four aunts, Ina Grover, 87, Susie Abbott, 89, Beryl Oja, 85, and Evelyn Chamberlain, 91. He loved working, hunting, fishing, Moose Valley Camp in Alaska and his family. He was a member of the American Legion Post No. 68 for 43 years.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Bea; four children, Mary Ennis, David and his companion, Elaine Ecker, Robert and his wife, Laura, and Frank Jr. and his companion, Nathalie Berry; his sister, Charlotte Warren and her husband, Walter; his brother, Howard and his wife, Amanda Dempsey; his aunts, Beryl Oja, Ina Grover, Susie Abbott and Evelyn Chamberlain; seven grandchildren, Cathy Anderson and Kurt of Vermont, Marie Silfer and Matt of South Carolina, Heather Easterlin and Lance of South Carolina, Vicki and Eric Lowell of Newry, and Danny and James Lowell of Bethel; three great-grandchildren, Molly and Miles Silfer and Braydon Easterlin; and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents; his sisters, Dorothy Heikkinen, Julia Cooper and Elsie Gammon; a brother, Ralph Lowell; brothers-in-law, Vieno Heikkinen, Kenneth Cooper and Oscar Gammon; his niece, Natalie Lowell; and his great friend, Red Blake.

Special thanks to Mary Dempsey, Dr. Medd, Jane Chandler, Dr. Parker, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, Debbie Crump, and his caregivers, Mary Wilson, Deena Bennett and Mabel Buiniskas.

Online condolences may be shared with his family at www.chandlerfunerals.com.


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